Trowbridge rejects town centre tank as war memorial

The idea to build a replica tank and position it near a war memorial in Trowbridge's main town park to mark the centenary of the First World War has been ditched by town councillors.

The project, which would also have included the involvement of schools and seen the Mark IV tank built from scratch, split opinion in the town. It was suggested by the organisers of Trowbridge's Armed Forces Day, which normally sees a military-style show and entertainment annually, and they wanted the go-ahead to bid for £250,000 of lottery money to pay for it.

An army major from the local 43 Wessex Brigade spoke up in favour of the idea, but a member of the Royal British Legion said he saw it as "a sign of aggression, not peace".

Trowbridge had a Mark IV tank in the town park as part of a war memorial from 1919 until it was broken up for scrap in the war effort in 1939.